Referee 'kicking' player: It was a spontaneous reaction, not intentional - FAM

KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 (Bernama) -- The Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) Referee Performance Evaluation Committee (RPEC) has ruled that an incident involving referee Suhaizi Shukri and Selangor FC player Muhammad Fazly Mazlan in the FA Cup quarter-finals was only a spontaneous reaction.

FAM secretary-general Mohd Saifuddin Abu Bakar said following the incident at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu on Saturday (July 23), Suhaizi had apologised to FAM, the Malaysian Football League (MFL) and all supporters.

He said based on Suhaizi's testimony to the RPEC, the incident was a spontaneous reaction of him raising his leg without intending to kick Muhammad Fazly, although photos and videos that went viral made it seem like he had kicked the player.

"The match referee also stressed that he did not impose any further punishment, for example - giving the player a second yellow card for stepping on the referee's foot - because he considered the player's actions to be unintentional," he said in a statement today.

Commenting further, he said Suhaizi, 43, was an experienced professional who had been a FIFA referee since 2011, besides never having been subjected to any disciplinary action nor reported to have made any major mistakes on the pitch at the domestic and international levels.

"Overall, he handled the Sabah FC and Selangor FC match quite well and we did not receive any complaints or objections from either team regarding the referee's performance," he said.

Nevertheless, Mohd Saifuddin said the RPEC had issued a stern warning to Suhaizi over the matter.

Selangor won the match 2-0 to set up a semi-final meet with Terengganu FC at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Kuala Nerus on Aug 6.

-- BERNAMA